Minnesota, When Did You Last Clean These?

I had one of those moments this week that made me stop dead in my tracks, and it happened simply while I was painting my fingernails.

There I was, working on my nails as I watched TV, surrounded by bottles of nail polish, cotton balls, Q-tips, cuticle tools, nail files, and enough polish colors to keep me busy for months. Then one random thought popped into my head.

"When was the last time I actually cleaned these tools?"

AM I THE ONLY ONE?

Now I'm curious, Minnesota...am I the only one who's been faithfully painting my own nails at home for years without ever wondering if those little metal tools are supposed to be disinfected?

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At the salon, they clean them all the time; but I figured...of course they do. There's are a million manicures a day happening here, and that can feel 'germy!'

But...with salon prices climbing, I know plenty of Minnesotans have started doing their own manicures at home. I certainly have. It's become one of those little routines I actually look forward to after a long day. But it turns out there are a few things most of us probably never learned about keeping our manicure tools clean.

And honestly?

I was doing almost all of them wrong.

MY LITTLE MANICURE STATION

I've got a cuticle pusher, cuticle nippers, a nail file, and a little tool I use to clean underneath my nails. There are cotton balls, Q-tips, a hand towel, and way too many bottles of nail polish sitting in a clear storage container right next to me.

If you do your own nails at home, your setup probably looks a lot like mine, or maybe yours is more impressive.

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IT TURNS OUT THERE IS A RIGHT WAY

For the longest time, I figured rinsing my tools under warm water, drying them off, and putting them away was good enough.

Apparently...not so much.

Experts recommend washing your metal manicure tools with warm, soapy water, drying them completely, and then disinfecting them with 70% rubbing alcohol.

WHAT?????

That last step is especially important if you accidentally nick your skin while trimming cuticles or cleaning around your nails.

If you're anything like me, that happens more often than I'd like to admit.

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NOT EVERY TOOL IS THE SAME

I also learned that not every manicure tool should be treated the same way.

Glass and metal nail files can usually be cleaned and disinfected, but emery boards are different. Because they're porous, they trap nail dust, skin, and bacteria over time. I always tossed mine when the rough surface finally wore smooth, which honestly, probably took me a few years. Turns out...they should probably be replaced long before that!

The same goes for nail buffers. Mine usually got brushed off with a towel and put right back into the storage tub.

Oops.

Then another question crossed my mind.

What about the brush that's actually inside the nail polish bottle?

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU NEVER CLEAN YOUR TOOLS?

The good news is that if you're the only person using your manicure tools, you may never have a problem.

But over time, dirty tools can collect dead skin, nail dust, natural oils, dirt, and bacteria that normally live on your skin. If you accidentally cut yourself with a dirty cuticle nipper or another tool, bacteria can enter those tiny breaks in your skin and potentially cause an infection.

I also learned something I hadn't really considered.

Dirty tools don't create nail fungus. But if they've been exposed to fungal spores, especially after being shared with someone who has a fungal nail infection, they can spread those spores from one nail to another or from one person to another.

That's reason enough for me to be a little more careful!

THOSE ANNOYING LITTLE HANGNAILS!

Even those annoying little hangnails can become a problem. Using dirty tools around irritated cuticles can introduce bacteria into tiny tears in the skin, leading to redness, swelling, tenderness, or even a painful infection around the nail called paronychia.

Another thing I never thought about is that nail dust and old skin can actually build up on your tools, making them dull or causing them to stick. That actually makes sense, now that I think about it.

A clean tool makes a smoother, more precise cut.

A dirty one?

Not so much.

LEAVE THE POLISH BRUSH ALONE

One thing you shouldn't clean is the brush inside your nail polish bottle.

The polish itself helps preserve the brush, and washing it with water can actually ruin both the brush and the polish.

ONE MORE THING I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT

I also realized I should probably be washing my hands before I even start fiddling around with my nails.

I usually do anyway because I'm cleaning up after dinner or doing dishes first.

But now I know there's a reason.

Clean hands remove dirt, lotion, and natural oils that can keep polish from sticking well. Some people even wipe each nail with acetone or rubbing alcohol before applying a base coat to make sure the surface is completely clean.

Who knew?

Apparently...

Not me.

MOVING FORWARD...I'M DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY

Now I'm looking at my little manicure station in a completely different way.

I'm not about to stop doing my nails while watching TV. If anything, I enjoy it even more because it's become part of my nightly routine.

I'll just be adding one extra step before everything goes back into the closet. From now on, those tools are getting cleaned.

So now I have to ask, Minnesota...Did I just send you to the bathroom to take a closer look at your manicure kit, or am I really the only one who never thought about the importance of keeping these types of tools clean?